Method and apparatus for drawing sheet-glass.



J. PLAYER. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS APPLICATION FILED JUN E 17,1908.

Patented May 9,1911.

3 BHEETS-SHEBT 1.

INVENTOP WITNESSES a J. PLAYER. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS. APIPLIUATION TILED JUNE 17, 1908.

991,642, Patented May'9, 191 1.

3 SHEET8-SHEET 2.

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APPLIUATIION FILED JUNE 17, 1908.

991,642, Patented May 9, 1911;

s SHEETS-SHEET s.

\ol D i Wnwzsszs INVENTOR 7/ 4 I I I -GyL/S ATTOFNEYSZ 4W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PLAYER, OF RIVER FOREST, ILLIlh TGIS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR nnaw nq ,sn i iir njass.

To all whom it may concern:

it from the vertical direction to a substantially horizontal direction over a bending roll, the glass being permitted to cool down between the drawing or formative point of the sheet and the'roll, and then subsequently being reheated to insure the necessary plasticity and flexibility to enable the sheet to be turned from the vertical to the horizontal direction over the bending roll without breaking. It has also been proposed to draw a sheet-of glass ina vertical direction atmosphere, and while the sheet is yet plas- -and theabsence of any means for r from amolten mass of glass into the open tic enough to bend to turn it over a roller from, the vertical to a horizontal direction 'and pass it into a continuous annealing furnace behind the roller. The difficulties i11- volved in this rocedui'e are, such'th'at it is "cry diflicult, it not impossible, to produce a commercial sheet of glass, because of the greatvaria'tions in the externaLa-tmosphere lating the temperature of the sheet at the nding point. This regulation of the temperature of the sheet at the bending pointisof great importance, since if the glass is too plastic the fire finish of the sheet will marred where it contacts with the bendin roller, and if it is not plastic enough it isgiable to break when it is turned over the roller.

One'of, the objects of the present invention is to eliminate thereheating step and to provide a process and an a paratus whereby the sheet of glass may be rawn inan upward, and" preferably vertical, direction into a re nlated and gradually decreasin temperature from the drawing to the ben ling point, pndthen bent over a suitable bending devioe, as a bending roll, to the end that its diregtion of movement may be changed into a horizontal or other desired-direction of movement without ex osing the sheet to the varying influences o the external atmos- Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed Junel'i', 1908. Serial No, 439,094.

man-ed. iiia 9,1911,

l)ll61't{, 2llltl \vithoiit loireringthejtemperature direction of movement can be and the necessity of reheating the sheet vawn-car invention consists, first, in continuously drawing a sheetof glass in an upward, and preferably in 'a vertic'zil, direction from 'a mass of molten glass, into'an atmosphe'reeX- posed to the heat-radiating surface of: said molten glass, passing" the drawn sheet through a regulated and graauan jdeereasing temperature, 'to'th'e end that the sheet may be slowly cooled, and changing the direction of the 'nioie'i'nenjt" of the sheet, from an upward directio1'1"toa lioriz ontalo ii otlir direction at a pointu'liere the fg'lass' still re change in direction --\vithou t b'reaking'jthe sheet, but where It hasiat-the same-time 'become snihci'entlv hard" to avoid inarr ng the fire finish of the gl'assby contact ivithgaii'y .ing roll, employed ort-h-e change Second, the invention consists 1 i a method of continuously id'rawin g a shearer glass in an upward,' 'a1id preferablyvertical, direc tion, counteracting the narrowingtendency of the sheet, some-ting the shefifidir'ithe cooling influence ofthe' external-atmosphere while at the same time permitting uie'ehe't to gradually lower tent eratiire, .a,nd then changing the diieet 0"winovemeneef-ih sheet to,a horizontal lie'r aeerredni eetion at a point 'wliere'sucli. ehan e of direc tion may be fe'flected *W'ith'out -danger of breaking the glass, v'tlre'iwliole "b ing per; formed without reheating the" shet;;' bind ad.-

- vantage being 'tiikenio ftlie Heat orig iiially existing in the drawn; sheet to 'maint a'infit snfliciently plastic to permit t lie bending opfera-tion or change-of di'rectloniiidicated;

Third, the invention consists in an tip},

paratus' for continuously fdravv'ing' sheet glass, provided" with a recej acle containing a mass of molten gl 8, meansfor opntinw ously drawing a. she .t of glass' th'ere'from,

.means forproviding afgradiia llyiiecreg mg temperature surrounding the sheet tr'oi .the drawing pointtothe point Where the sheet emerges from the apparatus, and means for changing the direction ofjinmfeiiient of 'tlie' sheet such, for examp1'e,= 'as slimming rn'l which last-mentioned nieans'ardsituatcg L of is changed.

a point where the sheet has become suiticiently cooled to avoid injury of the fire finish of the less by contact with the bendin means, w ile at the same time retaining su cient plasticity to avoid breakage of the sheet when the direction of movement there- The invention further consists of certain novel methods of procedure and forms of apparatus which will be hereinafter more fully'described and then pointed out in the claims. v

The invention may be embodied in methods differing in detail, and the apparatus.

portion may receive a variety ofmechanical expressions, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the method and apparatus hereinafter to be described are set forth .for the nrpose of enabling the invention to be un erstood, and not for the purpose of defining the limits of the invention, reliance being placed on the claims for that-purpose.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating one form apparatus which .may be employed in practicing my invent-ion, Figure 1 1s a central, vertical, longitudinal section of the fore part or end of a continuous sheet glass drawing machine- Fig. 2 is a transverse section on lines II II, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

The drawing apparatus employed may be such as shown an described in U. S. Patent 'No. 867,948, to I. 'W. Colburn and E. \Vashburn, dated October 15, 1907, for apparatus for drawing sheet glass, and in its general form the apparatus here illustrated is that shown in said drawings.

Referring to the drawlngs, 1 is'a' heated chamber containing a mass of molten glass,

which molten glass is received in said chamber from any suitable source, asfor example,

a suitable melting furnace, and 2, 2, are

' covering tiles preferably of suitable refractory material, leaving a transverse opening between them, which opening-has walls 3, 3,

here shown -as having vertical opposing faces, the lower edges of said walls extend ing into close proximity to the Surface of the molten massin the working chamber 1, but without contacting therewith. Any suitable means may be employed for maintaining the molten glass in the working chamher 1 in a suitable working condition, as for example, the bunners 3,3 supplemented, if desired, by heat from any suitable source, as, for example, that from the melting furnace. of glass may be initiated. in any suitable manner, as by a suitable bait inserted. in

the mass of molten glass and drawn upward, and then its direction changed, as here shown, from the upward to asubstantially horizontal direction, though manifestly, if desired, insteail'of'a horizontal movement The dran 'ng of the sheet the sheet might have imparted to it an upwardly inclined or a' downwardly inclined movement. After the drawing of the sheet has once been initiated, the same may be continued in any suitable manner and by any suitable means for exerting a continuous pull upon the sheet, and as here shown said means consist of a continuous drawing table cooperating with grip bars to seize and ad- Vance the sheet.

As the sheet of glass is drawnin an upward direction from the formative point,

and after its direction has been changed, it

is passed continuously from the drawing point onward through a closed chamber withinwhich the temperature is gradually decreased from the formative point of the sheet to thepoint where the sheet finally issues from said closed chamber fully annealed and ready to be divided into sections. The construction of the last or left hand portion of this annealing chamber may be that of any-suitable annealing chamber, and since the specific construction thereof does .not form. any part of the present invention,

it.ha s been deemed sufiicient to show merely the forward end of the same, but it will be understood that it is a long annealing chamber of any suitable construction through which the glass is advanced, the temperatime in the chamber gradually decreasing from the front. or drawing end shown in the drawings to the exit end thereof. .The forwardend of this closed'chamber consists in the present instance of a vertically extending portion leading upward from the drawing or formative point of the sheet to the substantially horizontal portion 6. The

walls 3; 3, of the covering tiles, rear and front walls 4 and 5, and side walls above the tiles serve to provide a closed conduit from the drawing point of,the sheetto the point 'where the vertical portion of said closed chamber communicates with the horizontal portion 6 thereof. As here shown, the rear and front walls 4 and 5 are hinged in any suitable manner on a horizontal axis, to the end. that the may be inclined toward the sheet, each 0 said w alls being provided with segmental portions 4, 5, serving to substantially close the opening when the said walls are inclined from the vertical, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. are provided with doors 8, 8, mounted on vertical axes, for the purpose of permitting access to be had to the sheet and the working chamber from the sides of the machine dur- 111 the drawing operation.

Located at the point where the substan tially vertical portion of the drawing chamber communicates with the horizontal portion is any suitable means over which the sheet may be bent to change its direction of movement,- here shown as a bending roll 7', and in the present Instance this roll is shown The side walls as provided with a hollow shaft 7 through which, if found desirable, any suitable coolin medium may be circulated.

%orming a portion of the ceiling or structural wall above said vertical portion is a over shaft 10. The opening in the ceiling of the drawing chamberwlnch is normally closed by the block 9 is one which gradually flares or expands in an upward direction. In the present instance this is accomplished by providing an inclined or receding abutting wall 14: dependingfrom the top of the chamher 6, the proportion. of the parts being such that when the block 9 is lowered in the position shown in Fig. 1, it entirely closes said opening andrthe ports 13, but when the block is raised it not only opens the ports 13, but also provides an opening between the block 9 and the wall 14, which latter opening, in creases in area in proportion as the block is raised.

The-'W'alls 4 and 5 may be constructed of any suitable material, preferably refractory materiahand are hinged to the cover tiles 2, 2, by means of rods 16 turning in suitable pi low blocks 17, operating rods 18 being provldedfl for the purpose of rocking said walls upon their pivots; In some instances, it .is manifest that'instead of the entire forward and rear walls 4 and 5 being rocked upon their pivots, the walls proper might be permanently located, and be provided with suitable rocking menr hers which could be inclined toward the glass to a greater or-less degree, for a purpose which will behereinafter described. i For the purpose of afi'ording means for assisting in regulating the temperature in the working chamber, suitable ventilating ports i bending roll, with the consequent necessity 19, 19, may, if desired, be provided through the tiles 2, 2,"'which ports are controlled by any suitable valve devices 20, 20.

Any suitable means may be provided for. counteracting the well-known tendency of the drawnsheet to narrow during the draw ing operation. As here shown, such means consist of side-holding rolls 21, 21, of the character shown in the'appli'cation ofl. W.

Colburn aforementioned, which serve to grip" the edge .portions of the sheet during the drawing operation, but as the specific construction of said side-holding rolls does not form any partof the present invention, it is not deemed necessary to illustrate the same in detail.

i 7 Operation: Thedrawing bf the sheet be ing initiated in any suitable manner, and the sheet bent over the bending roll, and the sheet being advanced through the drawing and annealing chamberby the grip bars or any other suitable meansor method, the tempera ture inthe vertical ortion' of the drawing chamber as the s eet passes upwardly through said vertical portion is carefully regulated, to the end that the temperature of the sheet shallgradually decrease from the formative point upward, with a viewof graduallyreducing the temperature andconsequent plasticity of the sheet tofthe point where the glass will be hard enough to avoid any marring effect of the bending roll upon the fine fire finish of the glass, while at the same time leaving the glass sufficiently plastic to have its direction of movement changed without danger of breaking the same; If,

l the heat arising on each side of the sheet of glass from the working chamber is found to be too great, the head block9 is elevated, thus" opening the ventilating ports '13 and also permitting the escape of the heat between the wall land the block 9. on the.

other hand,if itis found that the heatfaris ing'froni the working 'chainberywhenthe walls at and 5 stand in the vertical. position shown in full lines in- Fig, 1 is not suflicient to maintain the sheet in the desired plastic condition, said walls are inclined toagreater or less degree toward the sheet, as, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, by manipulatingsaid walls throughthe medium of the operating levers 18, 18. By this means the heat from the working chamber is'directed intimately against the faces of the drawn sheet and its cooling retarded to a sufiicient extent to maintain it in the desired plastic condition. It, will therefore be observed thatby means of the head block 9,the ventilating ports 13- and the inclined heat-deflecting walls and 5, the temperature of the sheet at the point i where its direction of movementis changed may be regulated to a nicety, and that this desireddegree of plasticity is obtainedwith ,out cooling the sheet below the temperature at which-1tmay be safely bent 'over' the of reheating the same.

While as herein shown, the means for advancing the sheet, through the annealing,

chamberand applying the drawing power thereto is that ofan endless tableand grip bars for seizing the sheet, it will be undenstoodthat the invention isnotlimited-to such drawing and advancing 'mea'ns, since any other suitable means-imay'be enipbyed for this-purpose.

is herein shown, reliance is the heat radiated from the surface ,c'fithe molten mass inthe working gclmmber 1 to": supply the, required gradually decreasing temperature in' the chamber surroundingrthe upwardly extending, port-ion on; the; sheet b placed "upon an atmosphere whose temperature gradually decreases from the formative point of the sheet to the point where it is bent to change its direction of movement. It will be' also understood from what is mentioned above that instead of the hinged walls 4 and 5, the walls proper may be permanent walls, and that suitable deflectors may be hinged to the permanent walls, which deflectors can be operated so as to stand in a vertical direction or to be inclined toward the sheet for the purpose of directing the heat to a greater or less extent into close proximity with the sheet. Many other details of construction herein shown might be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, and such details are designed to be included in the following claims.

What is claimed is z- 1. The method of drawing sheet glass,

which consists in drawing a sheet of glass in.

an upward direction from a mass of molten glass into an atmosphere exposed -to the heat-radiating surface of said molten mass, bending the drawnsheet to change its direction of movement, and continuously passing the drawn sheet through an atmosphere of constantly decreasing temperature from the drawing point onward.

2. The method of drawing sheet 'glass' which consists in preparing a mass of molten glass, continuously drawing a sheet of glass therefrom'in an upward direction into an atmosphere exposed to.the heat-radiating surface of said mass, bending the sheet to change its direction of travel, excluding the external atmosphere from said sheet between the drawing point and the bending point, and passing the sheet through. an atmosphere which constantly-decreases in temperature fromthe drawing point onward.

3. The method of drawing sheet. glasswhich consists in preparing a mass of molten glass, drawing a sheet of glass upward therefrom into. a closed chamber exposed at its bottom to the surface of the molten mass, and bending the sheet into approximately a horizontal. direction without reheating.

4. In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the combination of means containing ature may be maintained in said chamber gradually decreasing from the ormative point of the sheet of glass to the bending point thereof. I

5. In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the combination of means containing a mass of molten glass, means for drawing asheet of glass therefrom in an'upward (11-, rection, means bending said sheet to change its direction of travel, a closed chamber surrounding the upwardly extending portion of the sheet, and means directing the heat of said chamber against theopposite faces of the sheet during the drawing operation.

6. In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the combination of a receptacle containing a mass of molten glass, means for continuously drawing a sheet of glass therefrom in an upward direction, a bending roll over which the sheet of glass is bent to change its direction of travel, and oppositely disposed inclined plates on opposite sides of r the sheet between the formative and bending points thereof, whereby the heat arising from said molten mass is directed against the opposite faces of the sheet during the drawing operation.

7. In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the COIIlblIlfltlOIl ofmeans containing a'mas's of molten glass, means for drawing sheet of glass therefrom in an upward direction, means bending said sheet to change its direction of travel, an inclosing chamber surrounding the upwardly extending portion of said sheet of glass between its formative pointand its bending point, and ventilating means located approximate to the bending point of the sheet.

8. In an apparatus for glass, the combination of a receptacle con: taining a mass ofmolten glass, means for drawing a sheet of glass therefrom in an upward direction, a bending roll over which the said sheet is bent to change its directien of travel, an inclosed chamber surrounding the upwardly extending portion ofthe drawn sheet, an o ening in the top of said chamber, and a justahle means normally closing said opening and operable to open the same whereby the temperature of said chamber may. be regulated' t). In an apparatus for drawing sheet glass, the combination of a chamber containing a mass of molten glass, means for drawing a sheet of glass therefromin an. upward d rection, a closed chamber surrounding the upwardly extending portion ofsaid sheet and open at the bottom to said mass of molten glass, ventilating openings in ,l'llt upper portion of said chamber, means for regulating said openings, hinged plates on opposite sides of saidsheet, and means for inclining said plates with reference to the faces of said sheet.

10. In an apparatus for drawing sheet drawing sheet glass, means containing a mass of molten glass, a chamber extending vertically upward from said mass, means for drawing a,

sheet of glass inwardly in said chamber, means for provi ing a gradually decreasing temperature in said chamber from the bottom thereof upward, and a normally closed side door in said'chamber.

11. In an apparatus for continuously drawing sheet glass, means containing a mass of molten glass, achamber extending upward from said mass, an annealing oven at an angle to said chamber, means for.

drawing a sheet of glass into said upwardly extending 'chamben'and means providing a temperature in said upwardly extending chamber gradually decreasing from the bottom thereof upward.

12. In an apparatus for continuously JOHN PLAYERi Witnesses:

-S. T. CAMERON, W. B. KERKAM. 

